That is indeed my lathe. I'm more than happy to see it get some TLC. It had been sorely neglected in my dad's, then in my, garage before coming to the Hack Factory. I'm willing to contribute funds and elbow grease. I'm planning to be there Wed. Perhaps any interested parties should meet up and chat.

PM me here, or @darus67 me on twitter to get my attention the quickest.

It should be a fun project! Thanks for bringing it in. Do you consider it donated to the HF, or on loan?

I've got goodies in the mail from LittleMachineShop. - A2Z mini quick-change toolpost - jacobs-style 1/2" tailstock chuck with MT1-to-JT33 taper adapter to match - set of cheap carbide-tipped boring bars - set of triangular carebide/HSS triangular insert style turning tools - a $30 DTI (for personal use; will likely keep it at the HF for others that know how to not destroy it) - a miniature DI/DTI stand on a magnet base. Should fit the lathe better than Pete's full-size one!

A few other goodies too I think. They are out of stock on the imported 4" 3-jaw chuck, or I might have gotten one of those too. I'll be placing a McMaster order soon to get a new link belt and probably the appropriate machine oil and an easy-to-use oiler to make sure it's easy to lube the machine regularly.

The new tooling is working quite nicely! I've managed to make a number of useful small parts for my own projects (mostly bike-related) and a ton of little proof-of-concept pieces to experiment and learn new skills.

I ground one of the old tool stock pieces into an internal thread cutter and used it during the morning on Saturday to quite successfully cut internal threading on the inside of a scrap of seatpost. I almost managed to cut some external threading that would mate up with it, but the wall got too thin and it crumpled and was yanked out of the chuck. Need to try again with something thick enough to handle the loads. The play in the brass acme nut that carries the cross feed also should really be addressed. It's about .020" of play that can cause really interesting things to happen very quickly when you don't expect it.

For those keeping notes, the threading I've been doing has been fed at about .001 to .002" per pass, with .001 cutting much nicer (albeit slowly) and the .002 being a bit scary in most cases. For external threads, I've been using the symmetrical triangular carbide insert cutter, and for internal just the new eyeballed cutter for now. I plan to make some nicer ones when I have a free evening.

Thread cutting on ~1" diameter stock at around 20tpi works well with the back gears engaged and the main (red) belt in one of the middle two speeds. Slower is always better!